Changes to TCF Bank Stadium from the Vikings' to Gophers' games will be put to the test this week when the venue switches from hosting the NFL preseason opener Friday against the Oakland Raiders to a college football scrimmage on Saturday.

The process might take some getting used to, but it should become routine by the time the Gophers and Vikings play on back-to-back days Oct. 11 and Oct. 12.

"The field will be completely scrubbed and we'll repaint for Gophers football," University of Minnesota associate athletics director Scott Ellison said Wednesday. "We'll have the block M. We'll have the college hash (marks) and the college numbers down for the scrimmage on Saturday."

The Gophers are still uncertain about how long the transformation takes, because "this will be the first real quick flip we have to do," Ellison said.

TCF Bank Stadium's $6.6 million renovation to prepare for the Vikings started in April.

"There are 38 miles worth of tubing underneath the field," Ellison said. "In the back of the stadium there's also a heating plant. Once the Vikings are gone the heating system stays in."

On Wednesday afternoon, the NFL-sized goal posts still needed to be raised. The concourse area also had some signage going up on the walls.

The heating systems in the loge boxes won't be ready until September.

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Ellison said one of the key benefits to the partnership with the Vikings for use of the stadium is the $3 million a year rental fee, which will be used to pay part of the $7.5 million Williams Arena roof renovation.

All of the improvements in winterizing the bathrooms and concession areas became a priority for the U after it hosted the Vikings-Bears regular season game in 2010.

There will be more points of entry (from six to nine gates) and more places to purchase alcohol than before, Ellison said.

Gophers associate athletic director Scott Ellison talks about some of the changes at TCF Bank Stadium made by the Vikings.

Gophers games initially restricted alcohol sales to tents on the west end of the stadium. But now alcohol will be sold throughout, except in the student section during the college football games.

The cutoff for alcohol sales will be after the third quarter for both the Vikings and the Gophers, instead of at halftime previously.

"I think we've added close to 130 points of sale, just in general for beer, food and beverages," Elllison said. "We're also going from 56 points of entry to 90 points of entry."

The Gophers will sell the 1,700 extra seats added for the Vikings as single-game tickets for their games

So it appears right now to be an advantage for the U to be sharing TCF Bank Stadium until the Vikings' new stadium is built in 2016.

(University of Minnesota)

"The heated field, the improvements in the bathrooms," Ellison said. "The rent is going to help the athletic department as well. I'm not a football coach and I don't recruit but there's got to be some intrinsic value to having an NFL team play in your stadium."